Coalition Of Reformers Seek Answers For College Sports

They threw around ideas people dream about -- a 64-team football playoff -- and others that might be more realistic: finding a way to let players receive a small stipend in addition to their scholarships.

A group of reform-minded professors who represent their faculties on the Coalition On Intercollegiate Athletics met this weekend to talk about the many changes they'd like to see in college sports and the precious few they might help push through.

This year's annual meeting came in the midst of some troubling times for in college athletics. Over the past year, the NCAA has endured scandals at -- to name a few -- Miami, North Carolina, Ohio State and, of course, Penn State, where the news of Joe Paterno's death hit hard Sunday.

It's been the sad lessons in State College that have resonated deepest with many of these professors. A child sex-abuse scandal and its aftermath have come to define the massive, 157-year-old institution instead of academics setting the agenda.